Aussie farmer puts seeds in doomsday vault

Hundreds of Australian seeds have been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Marie Tefre: Global Crop Diversity Trust

An Australian farmer has deposited hundreds of seeds in an Arctic vault for preservation.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, known as the doomsday vault, is located about 1,200 kilometres from the North Pole in Norway.

The vault is built into solid rock 60 metres above sea level in a layer of permafrost, which means the temperature will never rise above minus 20 degrees Celsius.

In an earthquake-free zone patrolled by polar bears, the Global Seed Vault has been described as the safest place on earth.

Australian farmer and scientist Dr Tony Gregson told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program that he visited the vault with the Australian ambassador in order to deposit the seeds.

"The seeds first were put through an X-ray machine at the airport to make sure they were clean and that the seeds were what we said they were," Dr Gregson said.

"They were then taken to the vault, which is halfway up a mountainside overlooking the airport at Svalbard.

"We went up and you go through two doors in the side of a mountain and go down a long concrete tubeway about 120 metres in.

"Then there are three chambers going off at the end of it and the seeds at the moment are stored in vault number two, and we deposited the box inside the vault - which is at minus 18 degrees Celsius. I can tell you it's damn cold."

The Global Seed Vault is designed to store backups of food crop seeds from around the world in case of a catastrophe in one of the gene banks that hold those seeds in other parts of the world.

The seeds have been dehydrated, vacuum packed and put in boxes with quarantine seals, ready to be used in Australia should the need arise.

Dr Gregson says Australia's food crops are exotic to Australia, so preserving varieties in the vault is extremely important.

"There are 343 samples - 301 samples of peas that were collected in China some years ago now, and there were 42 varieties of chickpeas that were collected in Lebanon in the 1930s," he said.

"The chickpea seeds are particularly important because there are no other seeds of this type left in the world. Australia has the only copies left."